Overbed table



Sept. 21, 1965 w. R. BLACK ETAL OVERBED TABLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1963 IIIIIIII'IIIIIIII'I.

HHHII MM 1mm WBRW WITNESS nVa/my J. F/www WWJM ATTORNEY Sept. 21, 1965 w. R. BLACK ETAL OVERBED TABLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 29, 1963 IN VENTORS H M Q m l wn W M R a H mm/ rr r h vww WEB Sept. 21, 1965 w. R. BLACK ETAL 3,207,099

OVERBED TABLE Filed Nov. 29, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 *w illlllll .Zoo

INVENTORS .2 TVbzren. .R-Bladli 1m WHenrzZiJon 9 +122 BY Richard C. Zarzeerlti MM W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,207,099 ()VERBED TABLE Warren R. Black, Bror W. Henrikson, and Richard C. Zarzecki, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of New Jersey Substituted for abandoned application Ser. No. 140,370, Sept. 25, 1961. This application Nov. 29, 1963, Ser. No. 328,445

Claims. (Cl. 108-141) This application is a substitute for our prior copending application Serial No. 140,370, filed September 25, 1961, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to overbed tables for use with hospital beds.

7 The primary objects of the invention are to provide an overbed table which is mounted on a hopsital bed itself rather than on the more conventional floor-supported pedestal, thus leaving the floor beneath the bed open to give an attendant better access to the patient and to facilitate housekeeping; to provide such an overbed table which, when mounted .on a vertically adjustable bed, moves up and down with the bed thus to maintain the same relationship between the table and the patient; to provide such an overbed table having means whereby the patient may vertically adjust the table relative to the bed to suit his own comfort and convenience; to provide such an overbed table which is mounted on the bed for movement between the head and foot of the bed to meet various situations; to provide such an overbed table in which the top may be rotated about a vertical axis from a position over the bed for patient use to various positions alongside the bed for use as a bedside table, or to hold physicians instruments or linens when an attendant is making the bed; to provide such an overbed table in which the top is pivotally mounted on the upper end of its supporting column at one side .of the bed for free upward swinging movement about a horizontal axis so that the'patient could never be pinched by the table top; to provide such an overbed table in the top of which is mounted a novel combination bookrest-mirror which may be folded and slid to a concealed position within the frame of the table top or withdrawn therefrom and positioned like an easel for use; and in general to provide an overbed table which is eflicient in use, reasonably economical in manufacture and attractive in appearance.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the complete new overbed table;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the same;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, looking up, taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational view of the lefthand side of a carriage element of the overbed table, a section of the lefthand side rail of a bed on which the table may be mounted being indicated in broken lines;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical sectional view .of the same taken on lines 6-6 of FIGURES l and 5; FIGURE 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational view of the righthand side of the carriage, a section of the righthand side rail of the bed being indicated in broken lines;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view of one of two clamps which clamp the upper parts of the .overbed table to the carriage element thereof, the plane of section being indicated by lines 9-9 of FIGURES 3 and 12, the parts being here shown tightly clamped together, and a wrench for clamping and unclamping the parts being here shown fragmentarily;

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 9 and showing the parts in unclamped relation;

FIGURE 11 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken on line 11-11 of FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the same with parts broken away so as to reveal mounting means for the wrench when it is not in use;

FIGURE 13 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional view of a height adjustment operating crank and parts associated therewith, the plane of section being indicated by the section lines 13-13 of FIGURES 3 and 18;

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 13 and showing certain operating parts in diiferent moved positions;

FIGURE 15 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical sectional View of parts of the height adjustment operating mechanism, taken on lines 15-15 of FIGURES 3 and 16;

FIGURE 16 is a sectional view of the same taken on lines 16-16 of FIGURES 1 and 15;

FIGURE 17 is an enlarged, fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on lines 17-17 of FIGURES 15 and 16;

FIGURE 18 is a top plan view of the frame of the top of the overbed table, the plastic top proper having been removed to show the parts of the frame, and the rearwardmost part of a bookrest-mirror frame being shown fragmentarily outside the top frame;

FIGURE 19 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevational view of parts of the bookrest-mirror frame as seen from the line 19-19 of FIGURE 18;

FIGURE 20 is an enlarged fragmentary, vertical sectional view of parts of the top frame, taken on line 20-20 of FIGURE 18;

FIGURE 21 is a view of the bookrest-mirror element of the table, the view being a bottom plan of the element as it would be when the element is in closed position within the top frame;

FIGURE 22 is a vertical sectional view of the top, top frame and bookrest-mirror, the plane of section being indicated by lines 22-22 of FIGURES 1, 2 and 18; and the bookrest-mirror being shown partially withdrawn from its closed position within the top frame;

FIGURE 23 is a vertical sectional view of the bookrest-mirror per se as it appears when used as a bookrest;

FIGURE 24 is a similar view of the bookrest-mirror as it appears when used as a mirror; and

FIGURE 25 is a side elevational view of a vertically adjustable hospital bed with the overbed table mounted thereon, the bed and table being shown in a lowered position in full lines and being indicated in a raised position in broken lines.

Referring now in retail to these drawings, the overbed table there shown is mounted on a carriage which in turn is mounted beneath the mattress of the bed on side rails of the beds frame for forward-rearward sliding movement between the head and foot of the bed. The bed frames side rails are indicated by broken lines in FIG- URES 5-8, the le-fthand side rail being designated 25 and and the righthand side rail being designated 26. A tubular metal beam 27 extends transversely between the side rails 25, 26. The lefthand end of the beam 27 is flattened and turned upwardly at 28 as seen in FIGURES 1 and 5. Nylon slide bearings 29, 30 are secured to this upwardly turned part 28 of the beam 27 by means of rivets 31, 32 and the upper bearing 29 slidably engages the upper surface of a horizontal flange on the side rail 25 while the lower bearing 30 slidably engages the under surface of said flange, as seen in FIGURE 5.

The righthand end of the tubular beam 27 has secured thereto as by welding a forwardly extending, cross-sectionally square tubular metal bar 33. Brackets 34, 35, secured as by welding on the upper surface of the bar 33 and at opposite ends thereof, have upstanding portions on which rollers 36, 37 are mounted for rotation about horithe bed frames righthand side rail 26, while rollers 38,

39 engage the side walls of the side rail 26 to stabilize the carriage during its forward and rearward movements on the bed frames side rails 25 and 26.

The supporting column for the table top generally comprises three parts: a horizontally disposed base 40 which is detachably secured to the bar 33 of the carriage by means hereinafter described in detail, a vertically disposed, cross-sectionally rectangular tubular metal post 41 secured as by welding to the upper forward end of the base 40, and a vertically disposed, cross-sectionally rectangular tubular metal sleeve 42 which telescopically engages the post 41 for vertical adjustment thereon.

The base 40 comprises an angle bar 43 (see FIGURES 9-12) having a horizontal top wall 44 and a vertical side wall 45. A pair of housings 46, 47 having end walls, and side walls 48, 49 spaced outwardly from the side wall 45 of the angle bar 43, may either be cast integrally with the angle bar 43 as shown, or welded to the angle bar. The clamping means for detachably securing the base 40 to the tubular bar 33 on the carriage comprise stationary cams 50, 51 secured as by welding to the side wall 45 of angle bar 43 inside the housings 46, 47, and locking pins 52, 53 journalled in the side wall 45 of angle bar 43 and the side walls 48, 49 respectively of housings 46, 47.

Inasmuch as the locking pins 52, 53 and the clamping parts associated therewith are identical, only one of theseincluding pin 52is described here in detail, and is shown in FIGURES 9-12. Locking pin 52 has a locking cam 54 keyed thereto, .and a weak compression spring 55 interposed between cam 54 and side wall 48 of housing 46 normally urges locking cam 54 into camming engagement with stationary cam 50. The locking pin 52 is thus normally urged outwardly or to the left as seen in FIG- URE 10. A head 56 is provided on the left end of locking pin 52 and a kerf 57 is formed in the right end of said locking pin, as viewed in FIGURES 9 and 10.

In order to detachably secure the base 40 to the tubular bar 33 of the carriage, the projecting, headed ends of the locking pins 52, 53 are inserted in pin-receiving slots in the outside wall of the bar 33 like the slot 58 shown in FIGURES 11 and 2. A wrench 59 having a transverse pin 60 therein, is next applied to the kerfs in the locking pins which are then turned to bring the cam surfaces on the locking pins into secure frictional engagement and the base 40 is thus rigidly clamped to the tubular bar 33 of the carriage as seen in FIGURE 9. A base cover 61 is desirably applied over the base 40 and this may be of decorative molded polystyrene or the like and provided with a collar 62 fitted around the post 41 and with circular aper tures 63, 64 in the side wall thereof through which may be applied the wrench 59 to the locking pins. There is also desirably provided a clamping bracket 65 secured to the top wall 44 of the base 40 by means of a screw 66 and nut 67 (see FIGURE 12) and depending into the space between the two housings 46, 47, on which bracket 65 the wrench 59 may be stored when not in use.

Inside the upper end of the sleeve 42 (see FIGURES -17) there is secured an inverted U-shaped support bracket 68, as by means of screws 69 passing through the opposite side walls of the sleeve and threaded into said bracket 68. This bracket 68 has an upwardly embossed center ridge 70 thereon. A top mounting bracket 71 has a shouldered annular bore 72 therein, and an annulus 73 is secured in the bore 72 with its upper end abutting the shoulder 74. The annulus 73 depends below the bottom of the top mounting bracket 71 and has at its lower end four sockets 75, 76, 77 and 78 arranged 90 apart. One or the other pair of diametrically opposite sockets 75, 77 or 76, 78 can be engaged with the center ridge 70 of the support bracket 68 when the lower end of the annulus 73 is inserted into the upper end of sleeve 42 as shown. The annulus and mounting bracket 71 are thus non-turnably supported on the upper end of the sleeve 42, but they may be released for turning movement by lifting them so that the lower end of the annulus is disengaged from the ridge 70 on member 68.

A cylindrical tubular bearing member 79 is fixedly mounted on the upper end of the sleeve 42, said bearing member 79 having its lower end passed through an aperture in bracket 68 and welded to said bracket. The upper end of the bearing member 79 extends into aligned cylindrical bores 80, 81 in the mounting bracket 71 and the annulus 73 respectively. The bearing member 79 serves as a pivot pin about which the annulus 73 and top mounting bracket 71 may be rotated when lifted out of engagement with the ridge 70, and said bearing member 79 also serves as a bearing in which the cylindrical upper portion 82 of a screw member 83 is turnably disposed. The externally threaded lower portion 84 of the screw member 83 passes through an internally threaded nut 85 which is non-turnably and non-slidably mounted in the upper end of the fixed post 41, said nut 85 having its opposite ends retained in rectangular windows 86, 87 in the opposite side walls of the post 41 by the sleeve 42. A collar 88 is secured as by means of a roll-pin 89 on the screw member 83 at a point between said screw members cylindrical upper portion 82 and its threaded lower portion 84. A nylon bushing 90 is interposed between the collar 88 and the lower extremity of the bearing member 79. The upper extremity of the screw member 83 is provided with a key socket 91, and the lower extremity of the screw member, below the nut 85, has a stop pin 92 passing therethrough. Circular windows 93, 94 in the opposite side walls of the upright post 41 are provided for the purpose of enabling insertion of the stop pin 92 in the lower extremity of the screw member 83 after the screw member has been turned through the nut 85.

The top assembly of the overbed table comprises a top 95 mounted upon a top frame generally designated 96. As best seen in FIGURES 18, 20 and 22, the top frame 96 comprises a length of channel bar bent to rectangular form with rounded corners and welded to form a continuous inwardly opening channel rim 97. A flat metal bottom plate 98 is secured as by welding to the underside of the bottom flange of the rim 97 to provide a smooth surface coextensive with the rim. Spaced, depending lugs 99, are secured as by welding to the underside of the bottom plate 98 at the right hand end thereof. These lugs 99, 100 are pivotally connected at 101, 102 to the top mounting bracket 71 so that the top assembly is mounted for free upward swinging movement about a horizontal axis. Stop screws 103, 104 are threaded into the top mounting bracket 71 and these may be adjusted up or down so as to support the top assembly in an exactly horizontal position when in its lowered positron for use.

A web plate 105 is secured as by screws 106 and nuts 107 (see FIGURES 14 and 18) to the upper surface of the lower flange of the rim 97 at the righthand end of the rim. A channel bracket 108 is secured as by welding to the web plate 105 as shown, the upper horizontal web portion 109 of said bracket 108 being in the same plane as the upper flange of the top frames rim 97. An operating shaft 110 (see FIGURES 13 and 14) is rotatably and vertically slidably mounted in vertically aligned circular apertures in the top 95, in the horizontal web portion 109 of channel bracket 108, in web plate 105 and in the bottom plate 98. The operating shaft 110 is vertically slidable between a raised inoperative position as seen in FIGURE 14, and a lowered operative position as seen in FIGURE 13 wherein a key 111 on the lower end of the shaft 110 engages in the key socket 91 in the upper end of the screw member 83. A compression spring 112 is interposed between the web portion 109 of. bracket 108 and a collar 113 secured on the operating shaft 110 for normally urging said shaft toward its lowered operative position of engagement with the screw member 83 as seen in FIGURE 13. An operating crank 114 is mounted on the upper end of the operating shaft 110 by means of a screw 115 (see FIGURE 13) which passes downwardly through a central opening in a crank cap 116 and is threaded into the upper end of the shaft 110. A nylon washer 117 is desirably interposed between the crank 114 and the table top 95.

The table top 95 may be of any suitable material and may desirably be fabricated from vinyl-clad sheet metal so that its vinyl-clad upper surface is sanitary and easily cleaned with a damp cloth. The top is formed with a de pending peripheral flange 118 which is fitted snugly around the top frames rim 97 and may be secured to the rim by means of screws 119 (see FIGURES 1 and 14). Except for a portion of the flange 118 at the rear of the table top 95, the flange extends upwardly beyond the level of the top and then downwardly so as to form an articleretaining ridge 120 around the major portion of the tops periphery.

A novel combination bookrest-mirror is provided in the top assembly of the overbed table for the use of the patient as desired. This is illustrated in FIGURES 18-24. The device comprises a U-shaped strip metal bail 121 to the ends of which a double-walled sheet metal frame 122 is hingedly connected at 123. One wall of the frame 122 is recessed at 124 to receive a mirror 125 secured thereto as by means of a suitable mastic. A strip metal book ledge 126 is hingedly mounted at 127 in the recess 124 beneath the mirror when the device is in its position for use as seen in FIGURES 23 and 24.

The bookrest-mirror is receivable into the interior of the hollow top assembly through an opening 128 in the top frames rim 97, when the bail 121 and frame 122 are in alignment as seen in FIGURE 22. A runner 129 of hat-section (see FIGURE 20) is secured as by welding to the top frames rim 97 and spans the rim in a forwardrearward direction. A nylon guide 130 (see FIGURES 19 and 21) is secured as by screws 131 to the center of the bails intermediate portion, and said guide 130 has inwardly extending arms 132 adapted to travel on the outwardly extending flanges 133 of the runner 129. A wood block 134 is secured as by means of a suitable adhesive to the bottom plate 98 for maintaining the book ledge 126 in an upwardly turned position (see FIGURE 22) so that it will clear the opening when the device is withdrawn from the top for use. A convenient drawer pull 135 is mounted at the front of the device for withdrawing it from the table top.

Operation It will be seen that the height of the table above the bed can quickly and easily be adjusted to suit the comfort and convenience of the particular patient occupying the bed, by turning the operating crank 114. This turns the screw member 83 up or down in the stationary nut 85 at the top of post 41, thus raising or lowering sleeve 42 and the entire top assembly. Quietness of operation during this adjustment is insured by the provision of the nylon washer 117 and the nylon bushing 90, and these nylon parts also provide for long wear between the several parts of the mechanism. Should this adjustment be made by an attendant rather than by the patient himself, and should the attendant turn the table top too low, the patient still would not be pinched between the table and the bed because the top assembly would freely swing upwardly about its pivotal connections at 101, 102 to the top mounting bracket 71. Such upwardly swung position of the table top assembly is suggested by the broken lines of FIGURE 1. If when the top assembly is in such upwardly swung position the operating crank 114 should be turned, and the top thereafter lowered to horizontal position, the key 111 on the lower end of shaft 110 might not engage in the key socket 91 in the screw member 83. If this should happen, shaft 110 and the operating crank 114 would simply be pushed upwardly against the force of spring 112, which spring would force the key 111 into coupled engagement with the key socket 91 upon subsequent turning of the crank.

When not in use by the patient, the entire overbed table can be slid to the foot of the bed, riding on the bed side rails 25 and 26. The top assembly can also be rotated about a vertical axis to various positions alongside the bed as indicated by broken lines in FIGURE 2. This is accomplished by lifting the top assembly a slight distance so that the annulus 73 clears the center ridge on bracket 68 (see FIGURES l5 and 16), whereupon the top assembly can be rotated to any desired position or fixed in or 180 turned positions by engaging one or another pair of diametrically opposite sockets 75, 77 or 76, 78 on the annulus 73 with the center ridge 70 on bracket 68.

The bookrest-mirror device may be withdrawn by the patient for use, from a position of concealment within the hollow top assembly, by pulling outwardly on the drawer pull and then swinging the frame 124 upwardly and rearwardly about its hinge pivots 123. The device can be held in the angular position shown in FIG- URES 23 and 24 either by pushing the tilted frame 124 into supported engagement with the edge of the table top 95, or by means of separate stops (not shown). FIG- URE 24 shows the device in position for use as a mirror. In FIGURE 23, the book ledge 126 has been swung for wardly and downwardly to a position for supporting a book (indicated by broken lines) in front of the mirror.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a novel overbed table having great utility and versatility, and while but one specific embodiment of the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous details thereof may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as the same is defined by the following claims.

We claim:

1. In an overbed table for a hospital bed: a supporting column comprising a base, a tubular post extending upwardly from the base, a sleeve telescopically engaging the post for vertical adjustment thereon; a nut fixedly mounted in the upper end of the tubular post; a support bracket mounted in the upper end of said sleeve; a cylindrical bearing member passing through an aperture in said support bracket and secured thereto, said bearing member extending upwardly beyond the upper end of said sleeve; a screw member having a cylindrical upper portion journaled in said bearing member and a threaded lower portion engaging said nut whereby turning of the screw member in the nut raises or lowers the screw member; a top mounting bracket slidably mounted on the upper portion of said screw member, a table top mounted on said top mounting bracket, said top mounting bracket being pivotally mounted on the cylindrical upper extremity of said bearing member for turning movement about a vertical axis between a position wherein the table top overhangs the bed and positions wherein the table top extends alongside or away from the bed; and releasable means for securing said top mounting bracket against said pivotal movement when in one or another of its turned positions and in lowered vertical position.

2. An overbed table according to claim 1 in which releasable means are provided for securing the top mounting bracket against pivotal movement when in one or another of its turned positions, comprising: an upwardlyextending ridge on said support bracket, and in which said top mounting bracket has a depending annulus provided with sockets adapted to engage with said ridge when the top mounting bracket is in a lowered position and to disengage from said ridge when the top mounting bracket is in a raised position.

3. An over-bed table according to claim 1 in which the table top is mounted on the top mounting bracket by horizontal pivots for free upward swinging movement.

4. An overbed table for a hospital bed comprising: a supporting column having a base, a tubular post extending upwardly from the base, and a sleeve telescopically engaging the post for vertical adjustment thereon; a nut fixedly mounted in the upper end of the tubular post; a support bracket mounted in the upper end of said sleeve; a cylindrical bearing member passing through an aperture in said support bracket and secured thereto, said bearing member extending upwardly beyond the upper end of said sleeve; a screw member having a cylindrical upper portion journaled in said bearing member and a threaded lower portion engaging said nut; a top mounting bracket and a table top mounted thereon, said top mounting bracket being pivotally mounted on the cylindrical upper extremity of said bearing member for turning movement about a vertical axis between a position wherein the table top overhangs the bed and positions wherein the table top extends alongside or away from the bed, said table top being mounted on the top mounting bracket by horizontal pivots for free upward swinging movement, said screw member being provided at its upper end with a key socket; and an operating shaft extending through the table top from above its upper surface to below its under surface, said operating shaft having a manually-operable crank on its upper end and a key in its lower end enga'geable with said socket in the upper end of said key member for separably coupling the operating shaft to the screw member when the table top is swung downwardly to horizontal position.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which said top mounting bracket is provided with stop screws threaded into said mounting bracket on the opposite side thereof from said horizontal pivots for supporting the table top in horizontal position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 836,397 11/06 McGouch 5-63 949,655 2/10 May 5-63 1,930,882 10/33 McRae 108-49 2,193,647 3/40 Rush et a1. 108-49 2,483,920 10/49 McLean 108-49 2,628,147 2/53 Berner 108-3 2,698,442 1/55 Travis 5-11 2,709,818 6/55 Freese 108-49 X 2,749,197 6/56 Smith 108-147 3,054,122 9/62 Sarkus 108-49 FOREIGN PATENTS 798,784 5/ 36 France.

812,671 5/37 France.

480,100 12/53 Italy.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN AN OVERBED TABLE FOR A HOSPITAL BED: A SUPPORTING COLUMN COMPRISING A BASE, A TUBULAR POST EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM THE BASE, A SLEEVE TELESCOPICALLY ENGAGING THE POST FOR VERTICAL ADJUSTMENT THEREON; A NUT FIXEDLY MOUNTED IN THE UPPER END OF THE TUBULAR POST; A SUPPORT BRACKET MOUNTED IN THE UPPER END OF SAID SLEEVE; A CYLINDRICAL BEARING MEMBER PASSING THROUGH AN APERTURE IN SAID SUPPORT BRACKET AND SECURED THERETO, SAID BEARING MEMBER EXTENDING UPWARDLY BEYOND THE UPPER END OF SAID SLEEVE; A SCREW MEMBER HAVING A CYLINDRICAL UPPER PORTION JOURNALED IN SAID BEARING MEMBER AND A THREADED LOWER PORTION ENGAGING SAID NUT WHEREBY TURNING OF THE SCREW MEMBER IN THE NUT RAISES OR LOWERS THE SCREW MEMBER; A TOP MOUNTING BRACKET SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON THE UPPER PORTIN OF SAID SCREW MEMBER, A TABLE TOP MOUNTED ON SAID TOP MOUNTING BRACKET, SAID TOP MOUNTING BRACKET BEING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE CYLINDRICAL UPPER EXTREMITY OF SAID BEARING MEMBER OF TURNING MOVEMENT ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS BETWEEN A POSITION WHEREIN THE TABLE TOP OVERHANGS THE BED AND POSITIONS WHEREIN THE TABLE TOP 